Nguyễn Đức Anh, 21, stands trial at the Đồng Nai City People’s Court on Tuesday, where he was sentenced to death for murder and six years in prison for illegal use of military weapons. — VNA/VNS Photo

ĐỒNG NAI — A court in southern Việt Nam on Tuesday sentenced 21-year-old Nguyễn Đức Anh to death for killing a woman and her two children and seriously injuring her husband in Đồng Nai last month.

The Đồng Nai City People’s Court sentenced Anh to death for murder and six years in prison for illegal use of military weapons. The sentences were combined into a death sentence.

The court also ordered Anh to pay more than VNĐ1.13 billion (US$42,800) in compensation to the victims and their family.

The victims were Hồ Thị Mai, 36, and her two children, aged 11 and one. Mai’s husband, Nguyễn Viết Quang, 41, survived after being attacked repeatedly and suffered injuries assessed as causing 76 per cent bodily impairment.

Quang remains under treatment and was unable to attend Tuesday’s trial because of his physical and psychological condition. His brother represented him at the hearing.

The court found that Anh’s actions were particularly serious. He had prepared weapons and, after being stopped from reaching his former girlfriend, returned to the area and illegally entered a neighbouring house.

The court also noted that he repeatedly attacked people with whom he had no prior dispute, including two children.

According to the indictment, Anh had been in a relationship with a 17-year-old girl in Đồng Nai. After she ended the relationship in July, he developed an intention to take revenge.

On September 2, he drank alcohol with seven people and spoke about killing his former girlfriend. His companions stopped him from acting on the plan.

Later that night, Anh went to the area where the girl lived, carrying two knives. He first tried to enter her house but was discovered by her father and forced to leave.

Around midnight, he returned alone and climbed onto the roof of a neighbouring house before entering the home of Quang and his family.

When Quang confronted him, Anh attacked him with a knife. Quang managed to flee outside, but Anh followed and repeatedly attacked him, leaving him with 31 wounds.

He then returned to the house and attacked Mai and their two children, who were sleeping in a bedroom. All three died.

After the attack, Anh went to the bathroom to wash his hands and feet. Police arrested him when he opened the gate to leave the house.

At the trial, Anh admitted the charges and apologised to the victims’ family. He told the court he had drunk alcohol before the attack but was not drunk and remained aware of his actions.

When the court asked whether he considered his actions humane, given that he had killed children who had no connection to his dispute with his former girlfriend, Anh replied: “There was no humanity in it.”

Prosecutors had earlier sought the death penalty for murder and six to seven years in prison for illegal use of military weapons, saying the attack involved multiple aggravating circumstances, including the killing of more than one person and people under 16.

The court subsequently handed down the death sentence after considering the circumstances of the case and Anh’s mitigating factors. — VNS